KENNESAW - For the second time in its 177-year-old history, Shiloh United Methodist Church is finding itself in the way of road construction.

The simple white church building, built in 1932, is situated at the intersection of Cherokee Street and Jiles Road. In the 1960s, members say, the building was moved back about half an acre so the county could build the Jiles Road intersection.

This time, as the county is widening Jiles so that three lanes of traffic can turn left onto Cherokee, directly in front of the church, members don't know where to go.

"We've tried reaching out to anyone and everyone we can, and we're told things that are promising or hopeful, but then they change their minds and tell us something else," said Bill Floyd, pastor to the church's 104 members.

A key issue in the conflict is the traffic light at Jiles and Cherokee, and whether the church's main driveway can remain there.

Floyd said engineers first told him the church would be able to keep both the right driveway and the traffic light. Now, he says, the county intends to do away with the right driveway and its traffic light, and will instead make the church's other driveway into a right-turn-only in and out.

That means drivers heading south on Cherokee Street toward the church would have to make a U-turn to get to the church.

"I can't see all the 80-year-olds in my congregation trying to make U-turns to get into the church, then try to turn right out of the church with three turning lanes coming their way," Floyd said. "That's far less safe than leaving our red light in."

County officials would not comment because the church has a civil suit pending against the county in Cobb Superior Court.

The county has purchased the third of an acre it needs for $295,740 but Floyd said that is not enough money for the church to relocate and rebuild.

"We may be small, but we're going to stand up for ourselves and demand to be given an option that's fair. We're doing this for us, and for anyone this may happen to in the future," Floyd said.

Church members would be happy to sell the property for commercial development, but the county apparently doesn't want that.

In 2008, the city of Kennesaw granted the property commercial zoning, and the church signed a sales contract with developer Brandon Ashkouti for $3.3 million. But church members say the county then said the traffic light easement would be removed if the church sold to a commercial developer, leaving them few options.

Without the traffic light, Ashkouti had no choice but to pull out of the contract, said the church's broker, Ross Westbrook, and the church is left with a property that has no practical access point and therefore cannot be sold as a commercial property at a reasonable price.

Westbrook said that Ashkouti hired several engineers to come up with different plans for the intersection that would be favorable to both the county and the church, but that the county never considered the plans.

In the lawsuit, the church is seeking either for the traffic light and driveway to remain for any future commercial use, or for $2 million to cover some of the value lost without the traffic light.

Dot White of Kennesaw, who has been a member of the church since 1945, said she feels the church members are being mistreated because of their small size and budget.

"If they're going to go through with this expansion, I understand that they need the land, but I just don't understand how Cobb County can sit back and see us be treated in such a manner. We only want something that's fair, and instead we've spent thousands of dollars on lawyer fees because we can't get any answers," White said.

Floyd said that the church serves more than 300 families a month with its food ministry program, but the litigation costs may force an end to such programs. Floyd says the church has spent more than $100,000 in lawyer fees.

In addition, Floyd said that the congregation will decline drastically in size if the church does not receive a favorable settlement from the lawsuit.

"If we lose members and can't pay our apportionments and function as an active church, the United Methodist Church Conference will shut us down," Floyd said. "So it's really more than a lawsuit - we're fighting to keep our church family."